I agree you have to try on lots of brands of shoes to find one that fits. I have some pain/arthritis type in one of my feet due to breaking mutliple bones a long time ago, but after this I upsized my shoe 1 whole size and they work fine (I went from 34 to 35). I think the really tight shoe philosophy is a bit old-school. Backcountry.com has free shipping, so if you need to order 2-3 sizes they are really cool about returns. Also, the guy in the store, obviously does not climb if he sold you those shoes.